MIAMI — Sean Burnett, who has pitched brilliantly for the Nationals as their primary setup man this season, has been bothered by tightness in his left elbow for about six weeks.

Burnett does not believe the discomfort is serious, and he even hoped to be available to pitch in Saturday night’s game against the Marlins. Manager Davey Johnson espoused a more cautious approach and even suggested the disabled list was a “big consideration” for the left-hander.

“He’s too valuable to us to take a chance,” Johnson said. “The thing that concerns me is, he had four days off at the [All-Star] break, and he’s having a little problem over there. But from what I gather, it’s been bothering him for some time. So I don’t really know what to think about it, other than to give him some rest.”

After the game, though, Johnson said Burnett had received some anti-inflammatory medication and might be available to pitch Sunday afternoon.

Burnett, who faced one batter in Friday night’s win and struck him out, said his arm actually feels better when he pitches and believes the issue is merely muscle tightness. He played catch in the outfield Saturday during batting practice.Read more

The problem is now you have to depend on Michael Gonzalez. Down to two left-handers out of the pen again: Gorzelanny (long/short), Gonzalez LOOGU/setup. That has to make baseball chess master Davey more than a bit nervous.